“There are definitely parts of Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire and Fury’ that are wrong, sloppy, or betray off-the-record confidence. But there are two things he gets absolutely right, even in the eyes of White House officials who think some of the book’s scenes are fiction: his spot-on portrait of Trump as an emotionally erratic president, and the low opinion of him among some of those serving him.”

“[Trump] seemed to lack the ability to take in third-party information.”

“Trump didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. … [H]e could read headlines and articles about himself, or at least headlines on articles about himself, and the gossip squibs on the New York Post’s Page Six.”

“[Trump] trusted his own expertise — no matter how paltry or irrelevant — more than anyone else’s [see *Note]. What’s more, he had an extremely short attention span, even when he thought you were worthy of attention.”

“[T]he president’s views of foreign policy and the world at large were among [his White House's] most random, uninformed, and seemingly capricious aspects. His advisers didn’t know whether he was an isolationist or a militarist, or whether he could distinguish between the two.”

“If a wackadoo moment occurred on the occasions … when his remarks careened in no clear direction, his staff had to go into intense method-acting response.”

Outgoing (histrionic) mood/temperament: poor impulse control — Animated, uninhibited, and emotionally responsive; moods subject to rapid fluctuation; may be over-excitable, exhibit a pervasive tendency to be easily enthused and as easily bored or angered, make thoughtless, imprudent judgments, and embark on rash or reckless courses of action.

“At points on the day’s spectrum of adverse political developments, he could have moments of, almost everyone would admit, irrationality. When that happened, he was alone in his anger and not approachable by anyone.”